Parde

6.

My haldi was not very special. I was called to the women's area and everybody applied me the turmeric one by one. After I turned completely yellow, I was poured with cold milk with rose petals in it. It was winter season too and I felt very chilly.

Things were going on smoothly, and I was thankful for it. I had always been lucky and silently prayed that it always remains the same.

Time passed and now my wedding came. Yuvraj and I were not allowed to see each other before the wedding, it was considered inauspicious.

Everything was moving fast, it was making me scared. I entered the hall and the scent in there felt different, it was all red and golden, I felt every concious. Just then some of Raj's friend came in and greeted me. I knew one of them. It was Shezade Arif   Umar Afzal from the Sultanate of Oman. Yuvraj had talked a lot about him, about the way he talks, and how his words are different, he has always been fascinated by him. "Khuda rehem khaye..Aap behad khoobsurat lag rhi hain" he told me. I could not say anything in his language but I understood him, I have been taught a few words by Yuvraj "dhanyawaad. Arif .. aap kaise hain?" Our languages weren't very different but understanding a few words sure was difficult for me and maybe for him too. He told me he was fine I suppose and after congratulating me he went on to meet Raj.

I went to the mandap and sat beside him. I saw my parents behind me, they were ready for my kanyadan. My brother and Raj's friends in front of me. All my cousins who stood beside me proud after stealing the groom's shoes, I wonder where they hid it. His sister's were in rage while trying to find his shoes. It was a chaos. His parents were standing beside him with flowers in their hands. And I, I was very nervous. He glanced at me and must've noticed my nervousness, he softly nodded at me and the pandit ji started the rituals.